Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms which, from the 18th century, became subject to

the British Empire, along with the British Straits Settlements protectorate. Peninsular Malaysia
was unified as the Malayan Union in 1946. Malaya was restructured as the Federation of
Malaya in 1948 and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with North
Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia. In 1965,
Singapore was expelled from the federation.[12]
The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which plays a large role in its politics. About half the
population is ethnically Malay, with large minorities of Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians,
and indigenous peoples. While recognising Islam as the country's established religion, the
constitution grants freedom of religion to non-Muslims. The government system is closely
modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common
law. The head of state is the king, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. He is an elected
monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of
government is the Prime Minister. The country's official language is Malaysian, a standard form
of the Malay language. English remains an active second language.
After independence, the Malaysian GDP grew at an average of 6.5% per annum for almost 50
years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its natural resources but is expanding in the
sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism. Malaysia has a newly
industrialised market economy, ranked third-largest in Southeast Asia and 33rd largest in the
world.[13] It is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the East Asia
Summit and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and a member of Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Non-Aligned Movement.